


Hurting Together

by SkadiLothbrok



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Kaer Morhen, Soft Eskel (The Witcher), Wild Hunt, witcher!reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:35:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24863158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkadiLothbrok/pseuds/SkadiLothbrok
Summary: You were at Kaer Morhen to help defend Ciri from the Wild Hunt.With Vesemir gone, you can't bare to be there anymore.Neither can Eskel so you leave together.
Relationships: Eskel (The Witcher)/Reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 21





	Hurting Together

**Author's Note:**

> There's not enough Eskel fics out there so I'm helping the cause.  
> Hope you all enjoy. Comments and Kudo's appreciated. <3

Vesemir had asked you if you would come and help defend Ciri and Kaer Morhen from the Wild Hunt, and naturally you'd agreed.

The fight had cost you all greatly though.

Back in your room, you attempted to reach the wound that ran between your shoulder blades to treat it.

"For fuck sake" you yelled in frustration before throwing the vial of potion at the wall.

"Need a hand?" you hadn't heard Eskel approach.

You sighed before simply nodding.

He worked in silence as he cleaned, stitched and dressed your wound.

"Thanks" you mumbled as he stepped away and wiped his hands on some cloth.

He hummed in acknowledgement before coming to stand in front of you "We'll send Vesemir off at dusk".

You nodded before looking at the ground.

The loss of your friend still too fresh to even begin to process.

Eskel placed a hand on your shoulder before leaving you once more.

\----

Ciri was blaming herself for what happened but you knew that there was only one person to blame.

Eredin.

It bothered you that he was still out there alive.

You paid your respects in silence before leaving without another word.

Packing what few possessions you had, you prepared to leave.

"You're leaving" Eskel leant against your door as he watched you.

"Yes" you replied.

"You're still wounded" he commented.

"It'll heal" you shrugged.

"How do you plan on changing the dressing?" he asked.

"I can't stay here" you turned to meet his golden eyes with your own.

He nodded before speaking again "give me ten minutes to grab my things".

"I don't need babysitting Eskel" you sighed.

"I know" he was already walking away.

Shaking your head at him you made your way out to your horse and found yourself saddling up Scorpion as well as your own horse Cinder.

Shortly after, he made his way over to you and mounted Scorpion without another word.

The two of you rode, until it grew to dark, in silence before making camp.

"You didn't have to come with me" you told him as you sat by the fire.

He didn't respond straight away "maybe I wanted to" he eventually replied.

You sensed that his words held deeper meaning but now wasn't the time to deal with that.

Both of your were hurting and needed time to grieve.

"I'm glad you did" you spoke softly before standing and heading over to your bed roll.

\----  
\----

In the weeks that followed you processed your feelings and distracted yourselves with whatever contracts you came across.

You weren't really sure why the two of you were staying together.

Neither of you had bought it up and you found that you didn't really want to either.

Working together was easy, you both knew what you were doing after all.

And it was nice to have somebody watching your back.

Neither of you were really big talkers but the silence was never uncomfortable.

You were staying in a small town not far from Crows Perch after clearing out a nest of Foglets.

Laying on your bed roll, you stared up at the clear starry sky above you.

Taking in the smell of the burning fire and sound of the nearby lake.

Eskel was lay beside you with his eyes closed.

He looked completely relaxed for once and you found your attention on him rather than the stars above you.

Sensing your eyes on him, he opened his and turned to look at you.

You gave him a small smile before turning back to the sky.

Moving your hand closer to his, you laced your fingers through his own.

Not really sure what had compelled you to do such a thing you couldn't meet his eyes again.

Slowly though, you relaxed as you felt him tighten his hold on your hand.

With a smile on your face you felt yourself slowly drift off to sleep.

\----

It became habit after that night to sleep beside each other.

Neither of you commented on it but there was a mutual agreement to it.

After so many decades of travelling the Path on your own, it was nice to have company.

Especially since it was somebody who completely understood what your life was like.

You were stood waiting for the blacksmith to finish fixing your swords in a small town when a young girl and her mother passed you.

"Mamma, what's wrong with that lady's face?" she asked aloud.

"Anna" her mother shushed her as she shot you a quick glance before pulling her daughter away.

You rolled your eyes at them before subconsciously running your fingers over the scar that ran up your neck and over your cheek.

"There's nothing wrong with your face" Eskel came to stand beside you, having heard the child.

Realising you were still touching the scar on your face, you dropped your hand back to your side.

"They just don't see what I see" he continued.

Turning to face him you were about to ask what he meant but the blacksmith called over to let you know he was finished.

\----

As you lay in the bed of the room you'd rented that night your thoughts ran wild.

"You know, I'm 93 years old" you thought aloud.

"Don't look a day over 90" Eskel joked and you laughed lightly.

"93 years and I've never been-" you cut yourself off, shaking your head.

"Never been what?" Eskel's interest was piqued now.

"Doesn't matter" you wished you hadn't said anything.

"No, c'mon, what?" he urged.

You sighed before speaking "never been in love" you answered "never been called beautiful or wooed or-".

"You are beautiful" Eskel cut off your rambling.

"You don't need to lie".

"I'm not" he assured you quickly "you are beautiful Y/n".

Turning to face him your eyes flickered over his face, looking for any sign of deception.

Before you really had time to think about it, your lips were moving against his softly, testingly.

As you moved back you smiled at him before moving a little closer to him and closing your eyes.

It felt natural, being next to him, kissing him even.

You'd never felt so comfortable with anybody else.

As he wrapped an arm around you and pulled you into him you actually felt truly happy for once.

\----

Nothing had drastically changed after that night, you would share lingering touches and kisses here and there but you weren't really sure what to make of it all.

You supposed that this was as close as it got to a relationship for Witchers.

What scared you most though was that loving somebody meant facing the relentless fear of losing them.

And in your line of work this was more likely than most.

These thoughts had you pulling back into yourself.

Eskel clearly noticed and decided not to push you on it at first, but after over a fortnight had passed he could't help it.

"What is wrong?" he asked you as you both sat around your campfire.

"What do you mean?" you frowned.

"You're different" he pushed "around me".

Glancing at his eyes you found you couldn't hold his gaze and focused instead on the fire.

"Do you regret that night?" he asked, referring to when it your dynamic had changed.

"No" you sighed "I'm just..." you drifted off, not wanting to say it out loud.

"Just what?" Eskel pushed further.

"Scared" you confessed.

He hadn't been expecting that response "of what?"

"Losing you" you mumbled barely audibly.

It started to make sense to him then, especially since he felt the same fear towards being without you.

Moving over to you he knelt down so that you were forced to meet his gaze "I understand, I worry about losing you too. But I... I don't want to waste what time we do have together".

You sighed once more before leaning forward so that your forehead rested on his.

"Please don't pull back from me anymore" he whispered to you "I... I love you Y/n".

It felt as though your heart would explode at any moment.

Bringing your hands up to the sides of his face you kissed him passionately, your actions saying all that he needed to hear.

You would never be normal, never live a steady life, but it didn't matter...because at least now you had each other.


End file.
